The Baltic states plan to disconnect from Russia's power grid in February 2025

The Baltic states plan to jointly disconnect from Russia's power grid in February 2025 and synchronise their grids with the rest of continental Europe. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia made the decision following Russia's attack on Ukraine. They have already stopped importing electricity from Russia, but remain part of a shared power grid with Russia and Belarus. The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy reports this today on its website. The transmission system operators of all three countries agreed on the measure.

The agreement is expected to be approved in the coming days by the heads of government of all three Baltic countries, which are members of the European Union and NATO. The agreement stipulates that all three states will jointly withdraw from the agreement with Russian and Belarusian grid operators six months before synchronisation.

Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn have been part of a shared, synchronously operated power grid with Russia and Belarus since Soviet times—the so-called BRELL system. This means that these states are more or less dependent on the grids of their two neighbouring countries, and also rely on Moscow to maintain the stability of their electricity systems. This situation is considered a security risk.